[IC] [MoM] AMBASSADOR IC CONTACT

[dendarii]

"This is the office of Ambassador Miles Naismith Vorkosigan. Leave me a message and I'll get right back with you.

Or, if this is an emergency, come bang on my door until I wake up."

He has helpfully provided an address in Nonah for a cozy office downtown. Go ahead, bang on the door; he's in the apartment just upstairs.

Alas, the line produces only static now. But the office is still there, having been donated to whoever the next Ambassador of Nonah will be.

Comments

[aberranthubris]

[ There's a long, heartfelt laughter to go with this. ] Oh, we are. But not in a romantic way. He is a dear friend. And even if it were more than that, I don't think he... [ Charles considers how to formulate the thought. ] I don't think he is into men. [ Long history of various women and a slew of children should prove his point, perhaps. ]

[dendarii]

[ Hmm. His own experience with Erik is, admittedly, limited, but he'd thought he'd seen something in their interactions previously. Perhaps he was wrong. ]

Ah, well. You know him better. I'll not make assumptions.

In any case, I am firmly taken, even if my partner is currently absent.

[aberranthubris]

[ Don't worry, Miles. Charles is just being blind and stubborn. ]

I'm just assuming to be honest. He's had plenty of affairs with women along the years and none that I know of with men. But in any case, we're not romantically involved, he and I.

And please don't think I'm being forward with you. You're young and sweet and perfectly involved with another. I'm dreadfully old compared and I would never want you to think that I'm trying to take an advantage of you. You're a dear friend. I shouldn't have joked about that.

I would love to share a lunch with you, though. Even on a more regular basis if you don't mind. It would be nice seeing you more often.

[dendarii]

[ Aww, Charles. Miles doesn't mind a bit of flirting, really; he'd gladly flirted back with Bel, after all, and that while Gregor had still been here. His tone is warm in return. ]

Don't worry about it. I only meant it as a warning for your benefit - you'd be disappointed involving yourself with me.

[ Due to being quite taken, among other things. Although, he has to blink at part of that statement. ]

How old are you, anyway?

[aberranthubris]

No, no. I have a bad habit of... [ He gives a sheepish little chuckle. ] I suppose I sometimes flirt and not really think about it all that much. I know perfectly well that your heart belongs to another. [ He feels it acutely whenever they open that telepathic connection and it makes his own heart flutter with sympathy. ]

I somehow thought you would assume I'm joking. [ Because he's used to thinking himself now as a harmless grandfather that no one actually wants, let's be fair. ] I'm fifty-two, my friend. I know I don't look quite that old. I suppose fortunate genes are a thing.

[dendarii]

[ Oh. That - is indeed much older than Miles had been expecting. Precisely twice his age, in fact. Miles doesn't mind an age gap - his own parents are ten years apart - but that's quite a large one. ]

You definitely don't look that old. I had thought you were in your late thirties, to be honest.

[aberranthubris]

It's a common misconception. I suspect my mutation has something to do with it. Erik's even older and he doesn't look like an old man either.

[ Age gaps aren't really that big of an issue, but Charles sort of automatically applies this family aura to everyone he gets close to. He really cares about Miles, but it's definitely not a romantic sort of affection. The young man is absolutely adorable to him and he might be feeling even a closer kinship to him because of certain body issues they both have. ]

[dendarii]

... I had much the same impression. Dear god, you're practically Betan.

[ Which puts them in the same mental class as his mother. Probably best he not think about them romantically. ]

[aberranthubris]

Betan, what's that?

[dendarii]

Ah, it's a term for someone from Beta Colony. Their tech is unusually advanced, especially in medicine. So most of them live to be 150 at least. My mother, for example, will almost certainly live that long.

[aberranthubris]

Oh, I see. We have none of that, but it seems that mutation can provide longevity.

Is it just their technology and skill that makes them capable of slowing the ageing process or is it genetic? I imagine you would inherit some of that in case of the latter.

[dendarii]

[ Ah. Well. He's quiet a moment at that. ]

Technology and superior skill, and a healthy gene cleaning to boot. But I'll be lucky to live into my 50s.

[aberranthubris]

[ A pause, a small very quiet sigh, then: ] Why?

[dendarii]

Teratogenic damage to my bones due to a failed assassination attempt on my mother. Enough damage to get me called "mutant" back home, even if that's not technically true.

[ From the way he says the word mutant, it's clearly a slur on his world. ]

I've been living on borrowed time my whole life.

[aberranthubris]

[ Charles is happy they're in a phone connection this time, because the surge of sympathetic sadness he feels is rather stark and makes him quiet for quite a while. ]

I wish... there was something to say to a senseless violence like that. I'm sorry to hear that, Miles. I truly am.

[dendarii]

[ Sorry, Charles. Miles is quiet a moment in turn. ]

Mm, well. Being born with these sorts of defects has a purpose, if not sense. I'm making great strides in stamping out the usual Barrayaran response to mutations.

[aberranthubris]

[ There's a soft snort at this end of the line, mildly bitter. ]

The strength of character, that's what you were given in return.

[ Then he pulls himself together, because he knows out of experience that it's awkward being in the receiving end of this kind of spiel. ]

I'm sorry. I understand. Sometimes I just feel this helpless surge of anger that doesn't help anyone. If we'd stop hurting each other, end the circle of violence, just imagine what the world could be like...

[ Then he laughs, softly this time, taking a moment to rub a hand over his face. ]

I swear, I haven't been drinking.